Summer's End
by smiles1116
Summary: This is a Remus and Clara story.


It had been three days. Three days since the moment Remus had finally admitted to Clara that he's leaving at the end of the summer. There had been an argument and plenty of tears, and then Clara hadn't spoken to him since, except in short clipped sentences when necessary. She was angry, and he didn't blame her… but it didn't stop either of them from feeling the pain and regret stemming from the entire situation.

Three days. Three more days until Remus leaves the home he and Clara have shared since the night Lily and James were killed and she and baby Harry orphaned… the night of Clara's fifth birthday. That's all the time she has left with him until he leaves for Hogwarts to teach for an entire year. Tears sting her eyes as she remembers the argument…

* * *

"_Clara! It's not like I won't come home for the holidays!" He exclaimed out of frustration._

"_Yeah but what am I supposed to do until then? Just sit here alone?! There's a REASON I haven't moved out yet, Remus!" Clara had spun around and snapped at him with tears in her eyes, her emotions getting the better of her._

"_Do you even understand how hard it is for me to find a good steady job?" Remus had lost his temper a little; he always tried to protect the girl, but this time he couldn't help it. "Just because you don't fear the monster within me doesn't mean everyone else gives me the same courtesy!"_

"_I know that!" Clara had cried. "But I still don't want you to go!"_

"_Why can't you just be happy for me, Clara?" He regretted the words even as he spoke them. "Why can't you grow up?"_

"_Because even if I grow up, the only thing that will change is that I'll have to move out and be on my own! But I don't want to do that!"_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because I love you!" The tears had sprung from her eyes at that point. "And if I moved out, I wouldn't get to see you every day!"_

_Remus stood there in shock, staring at her, realizing she probably didn't mean to let that slip. And yet, he couldn't find anything to say. He was too shocked._

* * *

But Clara had taken his silence as total rejection. She had whirled around and fled up the stairs to her room, door slamming shut behind her. She had opened the window, grabbed her wand… then turned around and hidden in the closet, needing time to herself. And even when Remus had some to his senses and burst into her room, she hadn't come out or revealed her presence. He had seen the open window and her missing wand… and slowly turned around with a stony expression to exit. Clara had only glimpsed a faint tint of grief and regret before the door shut behind him.

She had finally come out of the closet much later that night and shut the window, laying her wand down before making the trip downstairs, only when she knew he'd be asleep. And he had been, passed out in the armchair facing the door, obviously waiting for her. She had covered him with a quilt and turned out the light before making her tea and retreating back to her room. The last three days between them had been… tense, to say the least.

And now here they are, at the end of the summer, not even speaking. Clara's heart aches deeply, knowing she was a little out of line and should have been more supportive… but nothing changed the fact that she doesn't want him to go. She wants him to be around every day, not see him just on holidays. Sure, she could visit him, but it's not like she could live at the wizarding school _with_ him. It wouldn't be the same because she'd still eventually have to leave… and then she'd be alone again.

"Clara?" A soft knock sounds on her door before it slowly opens; she finds it is pushed ajar by none other than the man she'd been torturing herself over… again.

She quickly wipes her eyes and cheeks before replying. "Yes, Remus…?"

The older man sighs wearily and slowly moves forward, sinking down onto the edge of her bed, resting his elbows on his knees with his face in his hands. Clara watches him but doesn't speak. She has so many things she wants to say, but she can't find the words. She's not sorry for telling him she wants him to stay, but the guilt over it is another story. After several moments of silence and sighs, he finally speaks again.

"Clara, this is killing me." His voice is soft and weary, unwilling to create another argument but still needing to make necessary arrangements. "I don't want to leave with you angry at me."

"I'm not angry at you, Remus." Her voice is soft and devoid of anger; she just sounds… sad, he realizes. "I don't like fighting with you."

"I don't either, sweetheart," he murmurs. "And that's why I'd like us to spend the next three days together… just you and me."

Her eyes lift to his, filled with surprise and a hesitant joy. "Just… you and me?"

"Yes, Clara… so, what do you say?" He finds the girl in his arms with her own tightly around him so quickly that if he didn't know better, he would have thought she'd aparated there.

"Oh, Remus… I would love nothing more."

* * *

Clara sighs softly, a small smile on her face. She's curled up on the rooftop of their home, arms wrapped around her knees as she gazes at the setting sun. She looks up as Remus appears next to her, and he drapes a blanket around her shoulders before seating himself beside her. The smile upon her lips widens a little as she shifts and leans against his arm, it soon sliding around her shoulders with the blanket. They had spent the day going through photo albums and remembering all sorts of things; Remus had even surprised her by revealing a folder filled with colored pictures, all the ones that Clara had colored and given to him when she was little. And he had kept every last one. After a nice dinner out together in a nearby town, they had returned and climbed up to the roof to watch the sun set and the moon rise.

"This has been such a wonderful day," Clara murmurs as the last rays of the golden sun sink beneath the horizon.

Remus murmurs his agreement as they watch the stars begin to appear in the twilight. "And we still have a couple more left before the end of the summer."

"… I'm going to miss you when you go." Clara murmurs after a long moment of silence, and the quiet takes over again until Remus breaks it once more.

"… I'm going to miss you, too."

"… I still don't want you to go." Clara's eyes begin to drift shut as the moon peeks above the horizon.

"… I know."

* * *

Two more blissful days pass far too quickly for Clara's liking, and she sighs as she helps by levitating Remus' trunk downstairs for him. "I think this is everything."

Remus looks around then nods. "Yes, all of my things are here for me to leave in the morning."

His gaze rises to study her as she turns away, knowing full well she's trying to pull herself together and not cry again. "You know, Clara… I do have something for you to do tonight."

"What's that?" Her voice is faintly husky from her throat tightening, but she turns to face him anyway, the smallest of smiles on her lips.

"I need you to help me pack a few more things."

"What?" Her eyes flicker with confusion. "I thought you just said you have everything."

"I'm just confusing you, aren't I?" He watches her nod before taking her hand and leading her to the couch, where they both take a seat.

"Clara, I'm still taking the job." His voice is soft and hesitant, almost certain he knows how his charge will take this news but… still needing to tell her, despite all the possible reactions she could have. "But it doesn't mean I want you to grow up and leave. I enjoy your company…

"… and that's why you're coming with me."


End file.
